USTDA Supports Solar Power in El Salvador

(USTDA) ARLINGTON, VA – USTDA awarded a grant this week to the Comisión Ejecutiva Hidroeléctrica del Río Lempa (CEL), El Salvador's national energy utility, to advance solar energy development in El Salvador. The $267,000 grant will fund a feasibility study on a proposed 3 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic power generation pilot project.

To meet increasing energy demands, the Government of El Salvador is diversifying its energy resources and facilitating the development of renewable energy projects. Solar power is expected to play an important role in El Salvador's renewable energy matrix. The USTDA-funded feasibility study will allow CEL to assess solar power resources, evaluate the most suitable solar photovoltaic technologies for the pilot project, and conduct a preliminary conceptual design of the pilot project.

"We are excited to be a partner in El Salvador's efforts to develop the country's clean energy resources," said USTDA Director Leocadia I. Zak.

The grant awarded today reflects USTDA's strategy of mobilizing U.S. private sector expertise to meet priority development objectives in emerging markets like El Salvador. This grant builds on last month's announcement by the agency to provide over $2 million to fund five clean energy feasibility studies in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico in support of the Obama Administration's Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas.

The opportunity to conduct the USTDA-funded feasibility study will be competed on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website. A link to the FBO announcement will be posted to USTDA's website at www.ustda.gov. Interested U.S. firms should submit proposals according to the instructions in the FBO announcement. CEL will select the U.S. contractor that will complete the feasibility study.